Chapter 6
Authors Note: I have a Gamecube now, Resident Evil: Remake rocks! XD
Sorry this took so long, but between my brithday, a virus, and one hell of a mgirane, i didnt get this finished until today!
Oblivious to their success in getting the pass card, Wesker was keeping a close eye on his test subject. So far he'd remained asleep, but he had the occasional moment of lucidity. But they were getting more and more infrequent.
"Hmm, id best make sure I crush your little friends before they get too close..." Wesker smirked coldly, turning towards a console, when he heard the kid speak.
"Don't...you dare..."
He turned, one eyebrow raised behind his glasses, regarding the now-awake Schneider.
"I can do whatever I want, and there's no point in trying to stop. Besides..." he walked over to the table and looked coldly at his experiment-in-progress, "what can you do in your present condition, hm?"
Struggling to keep his mind in order, Lance glared at him "if you've...hurt either of them..."
"You'll do what?" Wesker just laughed, walking away from him, "Soon your mind will be gone and you'll serve a far greater purpose, so I wouldn't worry about it."
Lance opened his mouth to demand the guy explain what he meant, when he felt what could possibly have been the worst pain ever. HE twisted and struggled, but it was no use, the straps tying him to the table stopped him from moving even the slightest bit.
After several seconds the backlash of pain subsided, and he drifted between sleep and awakening, struggling to breathe as his mind tried to sort itself out after the shock it had just received.
Wesker smirked at his captives yells of pain as the virus stepped up its campaign to slowly kill him off.
"You might as well accept it...you're mine now."
"Is there no way of contacting your HQ?" Leon asked.
Red shook her head "Phone wont work in here and the only long-range radio we have is in the chopper, which is parked by the stupid warehouse..."
Ada blinked; they'd brought a helicopter along? This could prove useful.
At last they came to the door, and with a single swipe of the card, the doors clicked open, and they pushed through. It led into another stainless hallway, it6s white walls offset by the occasional splatter of blood. Red wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh, something stinks here..." she muttered.
She and Leon automatically prepped their handguns, knowing blood on walls meant something was lurking hereabouts.
--Where are you Wesker?!-- Rachel thought furiously. Her hands shook slightly, as images of what that bastard might do to her teammate ran through her mind.
A soft tapping sound interrupted their thoughts, and they looked ahead, and kept right on staring.
Crawling along the wall was a grotesque thing. It had no eyes to speak of, rather its brain was on display, its muscled body rather like a combination of a human and a lizard.
"How the-?!" Leon muttered, shaking his head "Those things..."
Red stared "you've seen them before?"
Leon nodded "They were in Raccoon city...they can't see but they can hear you, so be quiet..."
The three snuck along quietly, managing to sneak right by the creature, and on rounding the corner, seen only one door. Rachel stared "no way is it that simple..."
Ada shrugged "lets go in then, we have to keep going.."
Rachel nodded, and they found that the door used the same card key as the other one. The moment they stepped in, they felt like they'd been stuck in an oven to bake. It was boiling in there. And it stank too. A door in the corner had "Emergency Stairwell" stamped on it but it was locked, and it was made of heavy steel, so it wouldn't budge if they rammed it.
Red and Leon crept further into the room, but Ada hung back, she had no desire to get any closer. Besides, she had a plan...
Red shook her head "lookit that thing, industrial size, what were they up to?"
Leon shrugged "probably destroying the evidence..."
While red and Leon examined the incinerator that took up most the room, she snuck silently back out.
"There must be on off switch, hey Ada--huh?" Rachel turned to ask Ada to look for an off switch, only to find the woman had vanished.
"..she must be up to something.." Leon murmured, but sighed and joined Rachel as she began looking for the shutdown for the incinerator.
At last, round the back of the huge machine, they discovered a shut-off valve. The heat dimmed down in the room as the flames died out. They gave it a while to cool, and then crept closer. Nothing.
Or maybe...
"Leon! Look!" red pointed at a strange indentation in the center of the burner.
Leon squinted at it "must be a disposal chute, to dump the ashes..."
Rachel sighed, then suddenly grinned "then that means its gotta lead to the lower levels!"
Leon looked at the half-hidden chute door and sighed, it looked like their only idea right now, so why not?
They waited impatiently until it had cooled enough for them to clamber in, flip up the chute cover with a metal pole, and drop down it.
By pressing their backs against one side and using their legs to descend, they made a slow way down, the walls of the chute blessedly cool compared to the residual heat of the chamber above. Dry, grey ash drifted down at every movement, and red sneezed what had to be over 15 times.
Eventually, after some minutes, a maintenance hatch opened up on one side. Stamped on it was "B2".Rachel kicked the door out, and somehow she and Leon managed to tumble in. The room was plain, stocked with a few lab coats and hard hats, evidently the chutes maintenance/cleaners room.
Covered in ash and soot, the bedraggled pair stumbled out into the corridor. Red was still sneezing form the amount of dust in the chute. She let out a particularly loud one as they exited the room, and soon regretted it. For swarming all over the walls were dozens of those lickers. And the sneeze, echoing in the empty hallway, attracted all their attention.
"Crapfuck.." she swore, and sneezed again.
They raced down the corridor, firing intermittently at the lickers as they chase dafter them. One particular shot that Leon had to admire was when red sneezed just as she pulled the trigger. The shot bounced of a metal pipe, and got one of them right between the eyes.
They ducked into an office room and shoved a desk in front of the door. Peace gained for now, they too a look around. It was FULL of filing cabinets, even more than any of the other rooms. Rachel noticed a map tacked to the wall, and quickly gained a bit of hope.
She showed it to Leon, clearly marked on the map was a heliport. It was on the floor above, B1, and if the emergency mechanism was triggered in the whole building, the underground heliport would open up. As would the emergency lifts.
"But first we gotta find your colonel...and no doubt wherever he is, Wekser'll be right behind..." Leon said quietly, and sighed. This was getting more and more complicated every second.
The sound of screeching on one of the cameras drew Weskers attention away from his half-dead subject.
"What?! NO!" he snarled, as he seen a very sooty pair pegging it down the hall. How had they gotten down there so quickly? He'd hidden the other metal pieces very carefully, only someone who had worked with him before would know...
"The bitch in the red dress...it must be her..." he growled. But he could still kill the two before they caused any fuss.
In fact, why not lure them out? After all, he had the bait...
Out in the corridor again, they finally disposed of the last of the lickers, and the hall was quiet again. But not for long. They heard an unearthly screech, and the next second, a strange, reptilian beast dropped down in front of them. And another, and another. Three of them.
It was total mayhem. They had to divide their attention between all three, or else risk getting mauled. It wasn't easy. Rachel shot at the kneecaps of the creatures, while Leon aimed for the head. Together, this method just about saved their hides, and after several near death misses by those thins claws, three dead monsters littered the hall.
Rachel stared down at the corpses, and as one gave a final spasmodic twitch as its life left it, she noticed each one hand a collar on. And tucked into those collars was a security card.
She and Leon collected all three, then wondered what to do with them. Where did they lead?
They checked every room in the hall, and although many contained ammo, only one had a security card-lock. It was a normal sized door, didn't look important, but they barged on through anyway.
The first room was square and eerily clean. No blood, no dead monsters. Just empty.
Or not. She'd almost forgotten about those half-melted things she'd encountered at the beginning. But seconds after they entered an unseen door in the side of the room opened, and at least 15 of the things ambled out.
She and Leon stood, back to back, armed with the strongest guns they carried, and ready to kick melted ass.
But these things were far faster then the average zombie or villager. They pounced rather them shuffled towards their target. Soon it was a gruesome free-for-all, with gunshots going off left and right, body after body hitting the floor, viscous blood spreading across the floor.
One almost strangled Rachel, and had Leon not shot it in the back seconds later, it would've snapped her neck.
But at last it was over, they were all dead.
Rachel sat on the floor, coughing and wheezing, tired from the all-out fighting.
But at last she was able to get to her feet, and, by the use of the next card, they entered another room. This one was rectangular, and again seemed like it was empty.
The walls were a smooth white, and the silence echoed in their ears.
Nothing was there. Then they heard a whirring sound to one side. They whipped round, and felt their jaws drop at what came out. It was another tyrant, only this one was HUGE, at least 8 foot tall, with huge muscle capacity.
It roared, and the claw on its right side seemed to warp and burst free from the skin around it as it grew bigger, and sharper. Then, with a speed that belayed its bulky mass, it dashed them.
Rachel felt the air slam out of her lungs as she hit the floor for the millionth time that day. She ducked and rolled to avoid tyrant's claws, aiming the gun and pumping an entire round into the back of the creature. It gave an angry roar and swung the claws at her again. The smack sent her flying into the far wall, and she heard a distinct cracking sound, and a jolt of pain ran down her arm.
--How're we...menna stop that thing..-- She thought dimly. Leon was thinking the same thing. Ordinary bullets didn't phase that thing; it simply shrugged them off and kept swinging at them.
As she fought to avoid it and still shoot at it, red noticed a tank of kerosene in the far corner. Something like a plan began to form in her mind. Shed ran for the tank pausing only to fire a shot at tyrant, to make sure it followed her. There was only one chance at this.
It gave an enraged yell and darted after her, brandishing its claws. She reached the tank of fuel, and with a yell partly of fury and partly of pain, she heaved the 2 1/2-foot tall canister with a strength she never thought she had, and hurled it at tyrant.
It struck home, the tyrants sweeping claw impaled itself nicely in the canister.
It roared, swinging the claw about as it struggled to dislodge its claws from the pressurized container. Red grinned, and aimed single handedly at the tank. She fired one shot, then ducked and covered her head. The fuel blasted aflame on contact with the bullet. Fire balled out, directly into its face, the flames burning its exposed skin. Pretty soon it became a tyrant fireball.
For the final piece de resistance, Leon flung a serrated combat knife into its neck, severing the spinal cord.
It gave one last dying cry, and then the floor shook as its body fell. Blood pooled out from around its corpse, the stench of burning flesh filling the room.
Rachel coughed and spluttered, gasping for air after that one. Now that the adrenaline surge was gone, she felt the throbbing pain of an arm with a few shattered bones in it.
"Wow, toasty." Leon remarked, and Rachel managed a weak laugh, which was followed by a wince as she got up.
"Let's go, before I throw up or pass out or something..." she managed, struggling not to do either.
The last card. This one had a gold Biohazard marking on it, against a silver background. No other writing, just that symbol.
Red and Leon looked at each other, was this it would they find Lance? They nodded to each other and slotted the card in.
The doors swung open. This room was circular, with a very high ceiling. Sticking out at various points, and at different heights, were odd triangular platforms, bronze and white. But that wasn't what got their attention.
Straight ahead was a capsule, a lot like the one Ashley had been kept in at the island. No guess as to who was inside this one.
"COLONEL!!" Rachel yelled, running over towards it. But she didn't make it, for just as she reached it, a blur moved from nowhere, grabbed her by the arm, and flung her back into Leon, knocking them flat on the floor.
"Oww..." Rach groaned. She quickly sat up, and started at what had thrown her.
Black outfit, blonde hair, sunglasses.
"Wesker..." She hissed, getting back onto her feet. "You asshole!!"
Wesker just laughed "now now, no need to be rude..."
Leon got to his feet and stood by red "let him go,."
"Oh I'm afraid I cant do that...see, I NEED him for my experiment." Wesker folded his arms and regarded them with a cold smile.
"You..how dare you!! Using innocent people for your sick experiments..." Rachel's hands clenched tightly, she hated this guy, hated how he could so calmly toy with peoples lives, like he thought he was a god.
"What's going on? Who are you working for?!" Leon snarled, and Wesker smirked again.
"Just look up you two..."
At this command, both did. And realized the truth very quickly. For if you stood in the very centre of the room, and looked up, then those wedge-shaped pieces of metal formed a familiar logo.
"Umbrella..." Rachel managed to say at last "but how...? The US shut them down!!"
Wesker laughed "you didn't think a measly senate could rid the world of umbrella, did you...? Oh we're still as alive and well as we ever were."
Crapfuck. Sweet merciful Crapfuck. That was all that reds mind could generate at this time.
Then something else interrupted. She blinked, then looked at Wesker.
"So it was you..messing with the doors, locking us in with those..those things!!"
Wesker laughed coldly, "Well aren't you a bright one? Of course it was me, I wanted to make sure my BOWs were perfect, and what better way to test them, then against the very people I needed out of my way. Plus I got my hands on my test subject, two birds with one stone, isn't that the saying?"
Red was pissed now, she wanted nothing more than to strangle Wesker with her bare hands. But this guy was far from human, that much she'd sussed out now. NO normal human could move at those speeds.
Leon fired at Wesker's head, but by the time the bullet had left the chamber, Wesker was already gone. He zoomed up to Leon, and knocked him flying halfway across the room.
"LEON!" Rachel yelled, then glared at Wesker "what gives you the right to screw with people like this?! WELL?!"
Wesker just laughed, and looked over at her "Because there's nothing you lot can do to stop me...you two can die, you're of no use to me."
Red could hear her pulse pounding in her ears, she was furious. Then she heard a faint crumbling noise. Then an almighty BOOM.
The ceiling gave in and large chunks of masonry came tearing down, right for where they were standing. Rachel and Wesker shot off in different directions, Rach hauling Leon out of harms way as chunks of cement ceiling hit the floor.
But that wasn't the end of it. As swirling dust and dust flurried in the air, a series of shots rang out, and there was the sound of something losing power...
Wesker glared though the piles of dust and dirt, what the hell was that?
As the sound of wrecking faded, he heard the unmistakable noise of chopper blades. Looking up his eyes narrowed as he seen a red and black copper hovering about, its gun turrets aimed at the spot were the ceiling was once lodged.
But it wasn't done yet, spotting Wesker it opened fire again, swerving about all over the place as it struggled to keep the aim at such an angle.
Wesker zipped left and right, deftly avoiding all bullets, this was a cake-walk. Did that bitch really think she could kill him that way?
But even if she couldn't kill him, Ada was doing something else by firing at him that way. Distraction.
Taking advantage of Wesker's mind being elsewhere, red dived for the capsule, and soon found out what the odd sound had been moments earlier. Three shots had hit the capsules main lock, shooting it out and short circuiting the whole device into the bargain.
With a burst of strength, she pushed the dented door open, and pulled her friend free from it.
"Come on, run!" Leon's voice echoed in her ear.
But Wesker had heard the sound of breaking glass, and he turned back to the capsule, in time to see the red-jacket pull her precious friend free. His precious experiment. He raced towards her, but karma was about to bite him in the ass, as he had discovered before.
Above his head, one of the metal triangles creaked, and with one final shot, came free altogether hurtling for Wesker. It made a sharp impact with his head, knocking him to the floor, the heavy metal pinning him only for a moment, before he threw it off. But it was long enough, for in that brief moment, red-jacket and Leon had escaped, with his precious experiment no less.
They tore down the hall, Leon carrying the unconscious colonel, heading back to the room with the emergency exit.
Wesker was furious, and when he got mad, there was hell to pay. Storming over to a console, he activated the self-destruct system. He had one last trick up his sleeve.
Hearing the sirens Rachel panicked, hearing the cold voice announcing they only had 5 minutes to evacuate.
They legged it down the hall, heading for the emergency exit.
--Why is he setting the destruct? Is he that determined to have the colonel?--
As expected, the emergency door had opened, the barreled through, into a dimly lit hallway, which wound round several corners and a flight of steps, before emerging in the freezing underground helicopter hangar.
The sound of whirling blades drew their attention, and they looked up just in time to see a chopper blocking out the floodlights as it made to land.
As soon as it touched ground, Ada stuck her head out "move it you three!" she yelled. They made a dash for the chopper, two fo them dragging the third along, but were interrupted by a screeching whine. Looking up they saw the previously open hatch above them starting to close, sealing them in, shutting off the night sky.
"What the-?!" Leon growled, looking around for someone to shoot. But there was nobody there...
"What a surprise, now I have all the rats in one place." All of them turned to look at the figure standing by the door. Wesker. He didn't look to pleased, a large bleeding cut trickled blood into one eye from where the metal triangle had pole axed him. His glasses had gotten lost amidst the rubble, and cold reptilian eyes gleamed in the dim light.
--So this was his plan, let us think we could get away, kill us here...no way...-- Red thought despairingly, then glared "You are one sick little puppy, ya know that..." she glanced quickly around her fore something, anything that might damage this guy.
"Maybe, but there's nothing you can do to stop me, so just hand him over..." Wesker strode towards them.
This was it, they were trapped. Red back up, unable to believe they were going to loose to this creep.
Or not. So focused on the two holding his precious experiment, Wesker hadn't thought to keep an eye on Ada. This was a pity for him.
She waited until he came within range, then suddenly yanked the controls up slightly, then pulled hard to the side. The end result was the chopper tilted almost vertically the whirring blades aiming for the infuriated Wesker.
He saw it coming, but not soon enough. He felt sharp metal blades tear into his gut, throwing him to the floor, his mind screaming from the unfamiliar pain.
Red and Leon had ducked and rolled right out of the way the moment they heard the chopper shift behind them. They heard the whirring blades above the head, and heard Wesker's mad screaming. Looking over they seen blood spray over the wall and floor, and Wesker collapse to the floor.
Wasting no time, red grabbed the side pack Wesker had been wearing the whole time. and fired at the bay hatch release control. Above them the doors re-opened. Midnight, how long had this gone on...?
Ada flung the chopper doors open, and they dived in without a second glance back. Without Wesker to shut off the self-destruct as he had planned, the countdown contained. And as they tore off into the night sky, it came to an end. A massive boom shook the building from within the basement level, and the building began to fold like a pack of cards.
The flames flared, creating a funeral pyre that lit up the sky. Sat inside the chopper, feeling sick and confused, red looked at the burning building.
"May you burn in hell Wesker..." she hissed, and then turned her attention to the pouch she'd yanked from Wesker. Inside it was a syringe with dark green liquid, and another with pale blue.
She let out a funny little choked noise, which one was it?
Leon looked at Rachel, seen her puzzling over the syringes.
"Which one is it?" she asked, laughing in disbelief, "which one is the cure?"
Leon couldn't say anything to help her, he didn't know either. This was like some sick joke, they had a cure so close, yet they didn't know which one it was.
"The green pill will cause nightmares, the blue will ease your sleep." Ada commented almost jokily, something like a smile on her face "figured it out?"
Red stared at her, and then nodded, a shake, relieved smile appearing on her face. She tried to hold the syringe, then realized her left arm wasn't responding properly, and her other hand was shaking too badly.
"Here, let me.." Leon took the syringe from her, and the cure for the painful virus was finally administered to the exhausted officer. He stirred slightly, but did not wake.
"SO where are you folks going?" Ada asked calmly from the pilot seat.
"Back to base, we gotta get him to the hospital..." Rachel murmured at last. And with one final look at the flaming building, the chopper turned round, and flew off into the night, leaving the wreckage behind.
As he lay bleeding on the cold ground, dimly hearing the building collapse around him, Wesker cursed the three that had brought his whole flies work down around his ears. The bitch in the red dress, the red-jacketed one, and of course, Leon...
--I'll kill you three somehow, don't think you've folded the Umbrella...---
Red was in a somewhat awkward position. While still sleeping off the virus, her friend/officer/co-worker had somehow subconsciously decided to rest on her shoulder while sleeping. And she didn't want to risk making him move, so she had to sit there, somewhat red-faced, while lance slept on unaware.
Leon was struggling not to laugh at reds face. It was the first time he'd seen her fidget that much...
He looked at Ada the same time she turned her head slightly to look at the pair in the back. She smiled, a familiar, rare smile, then turned back to the controls.
Checking the display, Ada spotted the landing pad red had described to her. It was deserted, which would make her getaway even easier.
As the landing gear touched the ground, lance finally woke up in a clear frame of mind.
And sat bolt upright as he realized how he'd fallen asleep, snoozing on his female co-workers shoulder. No wonder she looked fidgety.
HE was dimly aware of the American snickering beside him, but he ignored him. Where were they?
"Morning sleepyhead." red finally remarked "or should I say goodnight..."
He blinked, looking at her, she had a tired, but relieved smile on her face. He felt his face redden slightly, seeing her smiling.
"Looks like the cure was a success..."
All attention was drawn to Ada, who quickly leaned back and yanked the other syringe from where it had rolled form red's lap to the chopper floor. "See you guys around..." she said as she jumped out of the chopper and took off into the darkness...
"Ada, wait!" Leon called, but she was gone. Red sighed "thank you again, Ada..." she said softly, then, as she heard footsteps running over to the chopper pad, she slumped back in her seat and passed out.
She woke up sometime later, to the comforting surroundings of an infirmary. The sound of chirping birds drifted into her mind, as well as the sounds of two people talking.
"-you think the guy died?"
"Beats me, he got sliced by helicopter blades so-"
Here red decided to dozily interrupt.
"Rofflcopter!" she announced, then giggled.
As her vision cleared she seen the two turn to look at her. It was Leon and the Colonel. Lance looked much better now that the cure had purged all traces of the virus, leaving him with an immunity against it, and a lot of bad memories.
"Rofflcopter?" Lance asked, trying not to laugh, and just about succeeding.
"Helicopter" Leon offered as explanation as Rachel giggled again. Evidently the painkillers were addling her mind a bit.
Lance shook his head slightly, she was as mad as ever. He had been relieved to hear she'd be alright. After all, he owed her for everything, both her and the American...
Giving them an excuse to talk alone, Leon pulled the golf ball-bladder excuse and pretended to dash off to the loo.
Lance sighed, he didn't exactly know what to say to her, after all, thanks to Wesker she knew the whole story about his parents, one he'd never revealed to anyone. He still remembered the day he received the news, seen the reports of Raccoon City being blown to pieces by a missile.
His hands clenched tightly in his lap, it had been because of people like Wesker that his parents had been wiped out of existence...
In the midst of the fog of memories, someone tapped his hand. He snapped out of his daydream, coming face to face to face with red. She was sitting up in bed, one arm in a cast. As he blinked slowly at her, she leaned forward and poked him on the nose.
"Cheer up!" she announced with another grin "we made it, Wesker's virus is gone...and you're OK, that's the best part" she ended this long-winded message with another cheerful smile, "so stop being so depressing OK?."
He blinked at her, and then, for the first time in the whole time she'd known him, he smiled warmly. "Yeah, I guess so.."
Even if his real family had been slaughtered by Umbrella, the loony Rachel and that weird American were the next best thing to a real family...
"Heh" Rachel smiled and leaned forward to ruffle the blondes hair, but over balanced and started to fall off the bed.
He had to move quickly, grabbing hold of her and sitting her back on the bed. And found himself going red again. He quickly pretended to be sorting out the flowers by the bedside so she wouldn't see him. But he found the depressing fog of thoughts that normally plagued him were gone...
He glanced out the window, at the bright light streaming into the room. She was right, the nightmare was over, the past was behind them.
Rachel leaned back against her pillow, smiling. She gotten Mr. grumpy-pants to smile, and she mentally resolved to try make him laugh as her next goal in the "cheer-him-up" plan she'd had going for some time.
Outside the room, having just come back from making a phone call, Leon watched the together. They seemed to get on so well, and the grouchy officer seemed to have cheered up. Red had that effect on people he noticed, she could get into your head and not leave until she got a laugh outta you.
He pushed open the door, smiling at Rachel "guess whose coming to visit?"
Red blinked, then clapped her hands "Ashley?" she asked hopefully, then grinned as Leon nodded, she hadn't seen the presidents daughter since the last mission.
She sat up in her bed, surrounded by the people and things that mattered most to her, the world of nightmares they'd left so far removed from the present. She knew Umbrella wouldn't be gone just because they'd destroyed one lab, there were more to find, and hopefully with Leon and lances help, she would bring down another...